NEWPORT CITY COUNCIL | WELSH CYCLING | ROBERT PRICE BUILDERS MERCHANTS | OWEN CONSTRUCTION | NEWPORT FORD
ACCOMMODATION
PROGRAMME Saturday: 28th June 2. Celtic Manor Challenge (British Heart Foundation Charity Ride) -- Start time 10.00am (32, 24 or 8 mile routes available). Click here for details. Sunday: 29th June 2. Celtic Manor Team Challenge (Off road charity ride). Click here for details.
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| THE
COURSE | THE
CHARITY RIDE | NICOLE'S
INTERVIEW | THE
RACES | INTRODUCTION
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FORMER
WINNERS |
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WOMEN
COMPETITORS | MALE
COMPETITORS | JULIAN
WINN INTERVIEW |
INTERVIEW: RACHEL HEAL
Last year, the final rider to give Nicole Cooke
any opposition in the National Road Race Championship for Women was Commonwealth
Games Bronze medalist Rachel Heal. This year, Rachel is back and we caught
up with the Great Britain rider at Celtic Manor where she did a few interviews
with the TV crews there to see her and Julian Winn. 
Earlier this year, she was ill and had to have a lot of time off the bike. Asked about how her form is now, Rachel says �Since I was ill earlier on in the year, its slowly been building up and up and I have probably got pretty good form now. I think my form is as it was last year, a step up from the year before. I have definitely made a similar sort of jump in form as I did last year.�
Talking about the course, Rachel explained that �I think it will suit both of us (Nicole and Rachel). It is a very tough course and a lot of the race is just going to be riders going out the back because of that and all the way round the course, there isn�t any part that is easy. There isn�t really anywhere to recover. Its going to be fairly relentless.�
As for the Wentwood climb, �it probably isn�t as hard as Belmont but is still hard enough to do damage. Hard enough and long enough that you just won�t ride straight over it.� Rachel added.
As for rivals for the title, as well as Nicole, Rachel says that �I think certainly people like Frances (Newstead) and Charlotte (Goldsmith) who have been riding really strongly recently are going to be well up there as well.� As for Nicole Cooke, the defending champion, Rachel says �She is definitely the favourite and I think the rest of us have to use that to our advantage. She has all the pressure on her. She�s the favourite and is expected to win on home ground.�
Asked whether winning a national title is as big an achievement as getting a Commonwealth Games bronze, Rachel says �Given the opposition, I don�t think it would be any less of an achievement. Having got second last year, to me the win is the only thing worth going for. I have had a medal at the national championships and so yes, it would be nice to get another one but it would only be really nice if that�s the gold.�
Talking about the rest of the year, she explains that �For me, I�ll probably be focusing on the World Cup race at Plouay and then the worlds. The next few week after the nationals, we (the GB team) all go our separate ways. Frances is off the Holland and Belgium to do some racing, I�m staying here, Sara and Charlotte are probably staying here as well and doing some domestic mens racing and probably some womens racing as well. It�s a little bit of a down time, not in terms of physical training but mental. We�re not away so it�s a little less pressure , we can relax a bit, train hard and then we go off again at the end of July.
As for her riding the track, I asked Rachel was it for fitness training or are there real ambitions to do something on the boards. �I think in the short term, my main focus is going to be the road but I am doing some track work where it can compliment the road. The Points race is an Olympic qualifying event and its worth doing it but I am only doing where it won�t take away from what I am doing on the road.�
Rachel is a rider who can sprint and climb, so I asked her what areas was she working on. �I�m working on sprinting and climbing. Sprinting from a small group which is what will happen on a hilly course. I need to be able to sprint from that sort of group and have the skills and knowledge to win that kind of race. I�ll probably focus a lot more on that than bunch sprinting because certainly at the moment, I don�t think it suits me. I haven�t got the nerve for it. I think its similar to the mens in that riders are that focused on winning that they don�t really worry about what gets in the way. If its another rider, they get the rider out of the way.�
Talking about the team having a new faces this year and throughout the year, riders like Jaqui Marshall and Lorna Webb have been invited to race with the team abroad, I put it to Rachel that there is plenty of opportunity for other women riders with the ability, to race internationally with GB. �I think people like Charlotte and Penny have proved that you can get to a level in this country where you get recognised, get on the squad and perform at the world level. Charlotte has shown that you can make the jump from domestic racing to international racing if you have the talent.�
And there isn�t just one leader of the team either � �Different courses suit different riders so on different days, we�ll ride for whoever is the strongest rider to get a result for GB on that day.�
But riding for GB means a lot of time away in Europe and America. Does that bother Rachel? �For me, I have no real ties here so I am equally happy where ever I am.�
Finally, we spoke about her bike. In the UK and with GB, Rachel rides a Trek carbon fibre with Shimano Dura Ace and Bontrager wheels/bars/stem. This year has seen a subtle change though. �I�m riding it without SRM cranks on it this year just to make the bike a bit lighter�.
�They are on my training bike so whenever I do training at home, I can generate data there but I think I have got to the point where I can estimate how hard the races are and get some idea what sort of information I would get with SRMs on there. The main focus for me this year is learning to race and my fitness and form is there so the SRMs are less crucial. There have been some races where I have put them back on when I came back from illness as a precaution just to make sure I didn�t over do things.�
Talking about who chooses what gears she rides, Rachel says that�s �it�s a discussion thing. Like having seen the course yesterday, I got in contact with Ernie (GB Team mechanic for Womens Endurance) and said I need a 25 (39 on the front). Realistically, if I�m coming up to the finish on the 25, I�m not going to win but on early parts of the course, a 25 is going to be useful just to save the legs. The less damage you do to your legs early on, the more you�ll have in reserve for later in the race.�
And Pedals? �I have always been a little cautious of because of the injury I had three years ago so I have been reluctant to change but I have been using the new Shimano SPD SLs which are great. I think most of the squad are changing to them just because they are light, simple to use, and nobody who has changed to them has had any problems. We�re hoping to get the whole squad on them because it makes it simpler spare bikes and all that.�
And for tomorrow, the special wheels come out. Bontrager carbons with tubulars. To finish, I asked her having seen the course, did she worry about punctures? �We are lucky with the sort of work that Ernie puts into the bikes that we get very few punctures when we�re out racing. Even in comparison to the other teams. It can happen at any time, so there is no point in worrying about it unduly because you can�t do anything about it.�
We can only wish Rachel and every other rider, the best of luck and hope that punctures and other mechanicals don�t get in the way of a great race. For Rachel and the rest of the women, it all starts at 3 tomorrow. Its going to a great event so why not come along to the Celtic Manor and get a taste of some five star luxury!